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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23324944">i daydream the girl</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/dryadfiona/pseuds/dryadfiona'>dryadfiona</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Life Is Strange (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Pining</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 16:27:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,155</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23324944</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/dryadfiona/pseuds/dryadfiona</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Rachel doesn't have a crush on Max. That'd be ridiculous. She dreams about her, sure, and she doodles her in her notes, and talking with her brightens her day, but a crush? Definitely not.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rachel Amber/Maxine "Max" Caulfield</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>108</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>i daydream the girl</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"What? No."</p><p>"You totally do, dude," Chloe says, exhaling smoke.</p><p>Rachel grabs the joint back. "No! Max is just a friend, okay? A good friend."</p><p>"Max is my <em>best </em>friend and I don't dream about her. Not like you do."</p><p>"Dreaming about people is, like, a totally normal friendship thing."</p><p>"The last dream I had with Max in it was over a week ago, and we were pirates fighting robot dinosaurs. I don't dream about just walking along the beach with Max. That's gay."</p><p>"You're gay," Rachel mutters.</p><p>Chloe snorts. "Wow, really? What gave it away?"</p><p>Rachel shoves Chloe away from her. "Whatever. You're totally off-base." </p>
<hr/><p>Rachel thinks about that conversation for a long time. About how ridiculous Chloe's being, obviously. Rachel doesn't have a crush on Max. If she had a crush on Max, she'd know. It's not like she hasn't had crushes before!</p><p>Admittedly, the last real crush she had, she didn't recognize until she was pretty far gone. But that was Chloe, not Max. Max is <em>just </em>her friend. Duh.</p><p>They're in science right now, and the experiment is something with weed killer or whatever. Normally, Rachel's fine with science, but she's having trouble paying attention. Max, her lab partner, isn't, focusing on Ms. Grant with surprising intensity, tapping her pencil against her notes. Rachel looks at her, the freckles on her face, the way she twirls her pencil through her fingers, her cute little concentrated expression.</p><p>Wait. Cute?</p><p>It's totally normal to think of a friend as cute, though. Rachel's called Chloe cute before. That was when they were sort-of dating a couple years back though. Kate's cute, too, but that's more kitten-cute than gay-cute. Max is that, too, though, but--she's also just. Gay-cute.</p><p>Whatever. Rachel can think someone's cute without actually being <em>into </em>them. It's fine.</p><p>"When did you get so into science?" Rachel asks once the bell rings to let them out of class.</p><p>Max looks over at her in surprise, finally stopping tapping her pencil. "What?"</p><p>"You just seemed really focused," Rachel says, glancing away from her. She didn't want to make a big deal out of it, she's just curious!</p><p>"Oh," Max says, smiling, and all the tension melts from Rachel's shoulders. She hadn't even realized she was stressed. "Uh, Ms. Grant pulled me aside after class one day and told me that she thought I could do better and I, uh, don't wanna disappoint her?"</p><p>"She does know you're in the <em>photography </em>program, right?" Rachel says. "Not that I don't think you could be good at science, too, I just--you know what, I'm gonna. Stay quiet now."</p><p>"Wow," Max says, but she's still smiling. "You know, if you'd told me when we met about how much you put your foot in your mouth, I don't know if I'd have believed you?"</p><p>"It's not a big deal," Rachel mutters, shoulders hunching up again.</p><p>Max puts a hand on her shoulder. She feels so warm. "Hey, I didn't mean to make you upset. It's cute!"</p><p>"Oh," Rachel says.</p><p>So they both think each other are cute. That doesn't mean anything.</p>
<hr/><p>Unless it <em>does </em>mean something. That has to be why Rachel's thinking so much about when Max called her cute. If Max is into her, she should know. She's not sure why her heart starts beating quick enough that she can feel it in her ears every time she thinks about it, but that's not important. Figuring out why Max said that is important.</p><p>The first and most obvious answer is that Max was just being nice. She does that a lot, even to people who probably don't deserve it. She's polite to David even as she shittalks him behind his back, still gives Warren the time of day for some reason. There's a pit in her stomach when she wonders if maybe Max just likes him. But no, that doesn't make sense--she always shrinks away from his attempts at flirtation, usually to hang out with Rachel and Chloe. </p><p>She's a little too proud of that, maybe. Whatever. She's a possessive friend!</p><p>The second, slightly less obvious answer is that Max thinks she's cute because she just...objectively is. Rachel's pretty. She wants to be a model--she's past the point of being too shy to admit she's hot. Cute, she hasn't really seen, but that's something she's always loved about Max. Max sees what other people don't. She knew way before Chloe and Rachel that Kate wasn't just the shy Christian girl, that Dana was sick of the Vortex Club, that Joyce might really split with David if they tell her about the cameras. </p><p>So the idea that Max sees "cute" in Rachel where everybody else sees "hot" is...nice. Really nice, actually. Somehow. </p><p>The third, absolutely <em>ridiculous </em>idea is that Max likes her. The thought makes her heart beat even faster, makes her face flush, makes her smile involuntarily. She likes to be liked, it's something she's been working on. She <em>really </em>likes the idea that Max likes her, though, but it's definitely not true, and if her heart drops when she thinks that, well, she's just got to work on her need to be liked more.</p><p>Right?</p>
<hr/><p>"Rachel, can I, um, talk to you about something?" Max says, shifting her weight between her feet the way she does when she's anxious.</p><p>Rachel only woke up a second ago, but she's wide awake in a second. "Yeah, of course, Max. C'mon." She steps aside to let Max in, hoping Max doesn't judge the pile of dirty laundry in the corner, the incense completely failing to cover up the smell of weed that's ever-present in her room. Max hasn't judged any of that before, but she's really worried she will, for some reason. </p><p>"So, um." Max hasn't sat on her bed or even her couch, like she normally does, and Rachel's fists clench hard enough to make her palms bleed. She doesn't know what's <em>wrong</em>. "Uh, I wanted to, uh, clear the air?"</p><p>"Did Chloe tell you her theory that I like you?" Rachel says before she can stop herself. She doesn't say, "which is ridiculous", for some reason, because Max is looking at her with her mouth wide open and she looks <em>happy </em>and Rachel doesn't want her to not be.</p><p>"Her...theory?" Max says, taking a step closer. "Um. Is she...right, because if you like me, I'm gonna...kiss you? If that's okay?"</p><p>"Yeah, of course that's okay," Rachel says hurriedly, and Max is kissing her, suddenly. Rachel barely even knows how to react, Max's hand on her face, Rachel's heart beating practically out of her chest.</p><p>When Max pulls away, Rachel looks at her and smiles and says, "Chloe's going to be <em>so </em>smug about this, so you know."</p><p>"Let her," Max says, and Rachel's about to argue but Max pulls her in again.</p><p>(Chloe <em>is </em>really smug about it.)</p>
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